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HIGGS: Why the left lane doesn't belong to you

Larry Higgs, @APPLarry
9:29 a.m. EDT June 30, 2014

Traffic traveling south on this section of the Garden State Parkway is observing New Jersey law which requires drivers to travel to the right and use the left lane for passing.
(Photo:
Staff Photo Larry Higgs
)

The signs on the side of interstates, toll roads and other New Jersey highways tell drivers what the law says very simply — keep right, pass left.

So why do so many drivers get this simple rule wrong? Anyone who drives the major highways sees it daily — one tortoise-like vehicle in the left lane, stubbornly holding up a train of other vehicles behind them. Flashing head lights, honking horns and uplifted fingers mean nothing; it's as if they'd cut the rear-view mirrors off their cars and had been fitted with horses' blinders.

The left-lane bandit is frustrating to the people behind them, and dangerous, because, sooner or later, someone is liable to do something stupid to get around them.

State law doesn't mince words. A summons for failure to keep right will cost between $100 and $300, and a $50 surcharge, which pays for more road signs telling you to keep right, except to pass. That fine was raised last August from a $50 to $200 fine.

The National Motorists Association calls the practice of moving over "lane courtesy" and declares June as Lane Courtesy Month to bring attention to the issue. Two summers ago, the Press conducted an online survey that ranked drivers who fail to keep right as the top pet peeve over other bad driving behaviors. It was cited as a nuisance by 41 percent of the 519 people who responded, ahead of tailgating, driving while texting and speeding.

But you wouldn't know it by people's driving. I drive the Parkway for a 100-mile-a-day commute, like many of you, and lane courtesy seems to disappear during the summer months. People hang in the left lane like they own it, especially some out-of-staters.

My last morning ride to work on the Parkway was an excellent demonstration of why we need a Lane Courtesy Month. Too many drivers were poking along in the left lane, blocking traffic and oblivious to the line of cars behind them. Some drove at the speed limit and some drove slower, and they weren't engaged in the act of passing another vehicle.

In fairness, there were some people who moved over after I rolled up behind them. Every one of them got a thank-you wave of my hand.

It's not so hard to give way to a faster vehicle coming up from behind. I do it all the time, because it is the law and it's better for my well-being. Who wants an angry driver inches from their back bumper doing something really stupid to get by? I find it's a lot less stressful to move over as soon as it is safe to do so.

My habit is to turn on my right signal to let the driver behind me know that I'm aware that they're back there and that I'll move over as soon as I pass the vehicle on my right. If I want a driver in the left lane to move over, I make sure that the driver can see me in their left rear-view mirror. If they don't, sometimes I'll put on my left blinker to get their attention. I'm not saying it always works, but sometimes it gets their attention.

What I try not to do is tailgate them, as much as "angry Larry" might want to. It's only going to make them furious and an angry driver doesn't yield the left lane.

I'm sure that someone will argue that left-lane bandits help enforce the speed limit by slowing down all those law breakers behind them. I asked traffic safety officers about that and they had a simple answer — you're not the police. That job is better left to the professionals for a number of reasons.

One of them is the law. Another state statute says the driver in the left lane has to yield to the vehicle that is attempting to pass that vehicle.

The NMA also points out that left-lane hogging could lead to a road rage incident.

The better choice is to move over when it's safe and let the other driver go. If the guy is driving like a maniac, it's better to get rid of them.